Announcements
About the Indian Computing Olympiad
The Indian Computing Olympiad is a nationwide competition organized annually by IARCS. The goal of the competition is to identify school students with outstanding skills in algorithms and computer programming.
The Indian Computing Olympiad is used to select the team of four students to represent India at the International Olympiad for Informatics (IOI). IOI is one of the twelve international Science Olympiads held annually. Other prominent Science Olympiads include Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Astronomy.
Eligibility
The Indian Computing Olympiad is open to all school students across the country, from any school board. Any student registered in school upto class 12 during the academic year 2024-2025 is eligible to take part in ICO during 2024-2025. There is no lower age limit for participation.
To participate, you must still be in school. If you have completed Class 12, you are no longer eligible, even if you have taken a break and are not enrolled in college, or if you are planning to redo your Class 12 exams for improvement.
Registration
Registration for ICO-2025 is open.
Stages
The first round of the Indian Computing Olympiad is in two parts.
The second round, the Indian National Olympiad in Informatics (INOI) involves programming. The only programming language allowed for INOI is C++. INOI-2024 was held on 21 April, 2024. INOI-2025 is likely to be held in January-February, 2025
Approximately 30 students are selected from INOI for the IOI Training Camp (IOITC). IOITC is normally organized in May or June. IOITC-2024 was held during 2–8 June, 2024.
IOI-2025 will be hosted by Bolivia.
How to prepare for ICO
Incentives for students
The following academic institutions in India have special admission procedures for ICO students. Please check directly with each institution about the eligibility criteria and procedure for applying.
The following international academic institutions have special admission procedures for IOI students. Please check directly with each institution about the eligibility criteria and procedure for applying.
Contact
Please write to Madhavan Mukund, National Coordinator, Indian Computing Olympiad at ico@iarcs.org.in if you have any questions or clarifications.
Our partners
The Indian Computing Olympiad is held in partnership with:
From 2001-2002 to 2013-2014, ZIO and INOI were coordinated through
the Central Board for
Secondary Education (CBSE). ZCO-2016, INOI-2016 and ZCO-2017
were held on the TCS iON platform. INOI-2017 to INOI-2023 and
ZCO-2018 to ZCO-2023 were held on the CodeChef
platform. Jed-i
provided administrative support from 2013 to 2015.